Coppicing in Gmelina arborea coppice shoots: I. Impact of plantation age and harvesting season.
1997
Adu-Anning, C. | Angalaare, L. C. N. | Foli, E. G.
The impact of plantation age and harvesting season on regeneration of gmelina arborea, in the rainforest zone of Ghana, was assessed for 4-, 7- and 10year old plantations in four different seasons in a 4 x 3 factorial experiment replicated twice in a randomized complete block design. Coppicing ability was high with 52-80% of the stumps sprouting within the first 4 weeks after cutting. Proportion of stumps sprouting in the first 4 weeks was 79.6%, 65.0% and 59.1% for the 4-year, 7-year and 10-year coupes respectively. The early dry and early rainy season cuttings had 75.4% of their stumps sprouting within this period while the peak dry season had 66.3% and the peak rainy season produced the least, 44.9%. Plantation age and harvesting season, however, did not have any significant effect on the proportion of stumps sprouting. The cumulative average number of coppices produce per stump after 18weeks was found to decrease significantly with increasing plantation age and was 18, 14 and 8 shoots/stump for the 4-, 7- and 10-year coupes respectively. Season effect on coppice production was however not significant though the peak rainy season cutting produced a cumulative average number of 18 shoots per stump compared to 12 shoots/stump for peak dry season and 11 shoots/stump each for early dry and early rainy season cuttings. The propensity for G. arborea to sprout declined within a short time, unlike other hardwoods that sprout for several years after cutting.
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